Book review: 'Hidden Like Anne Frank' is a great gateway to WWII history

Marcel Prins and Peter Henk Steenhuis have gathered the stories of 14 different Dutch Jewish citizens whose lives were thrown into disarray by World War II and placed them side by side in one book - "Hidden Like Anne Frank."

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By Nathan Sorensen

Holland Sentinel

By Nathan Sorensen

Posted Apr. 21, 2014 at 6:18 PM

By Nathan Sorensen

Posted Apr. 21, 2014 at 6:18 PM

"HIDDEN LIKE ANNE FRANK: 14 True Stories of Survival," compiled by Marcel Prins and Peter Henk Steenhuis, Arthur A. Levine Books, $16.99, 211 pages (nf) (ages 12 and up)
Anne Frank was not the only child hiding from Nazi soldiers because she was Jewish during World War II.
Marcel Prins and Peter Henk Steenhuis have gathered the stories of 14 different Dutch Jewish citizens whose lives were thrown into disarray by World War II and the occupation by Nazi Germany, and placed them side by side in one book - "Hidden Like Anne Frank: 14 True Stories of Survival."
These 14 people, now old men and women, tell the story of their childhood and teenage years living in the Netherlands during the war. All of them were Jews and all of them were forced into hiding - just like Anne Frank.
This often meant staying far away from their parents and siblings with little or no news of where they had gone. It often meant staying with people they did not like, or in cramped spaces, with little or no food to eat. There were still times of joy and even laughter, but those times were often punctuated by the fear of Nazi soldiers charging in and discovering their hiding places, forcing them to go to concentration camps.
For the amateur historian, the complexities of war and its geopolitical, social, economic, cultural entirety may prove daunting. In many ways, "Hidden Like Anne Frank" serves as an entry point for understanding. How did World War II affect Jewish children and teens? How did they feel and what did they see? What was it like to watch war unfold? These are questions to which there are very specific answers - all of which may be more easily relatable to young children who have only a vague grasp of what Europe was like in the 1930s and 1940s.
The stories would be great to read aloud. These stories feel a lot like a grandparent telling their young grandchildren about their childhood long ago. The book also includes a glossary of terms that may be new to young readers.
"Hidden Like Anne Frank" is a family friendly book with clean language and no sexual content, though it does include some suspenseful moments.
For videos and more information, see hiddenlikeannefrank.com.%3Cimg%20src%3D%22http%3A//beacon.deseretconnect.com/beacon.gif%3Fcid%3D158332%26pid%3D46%22%20/%3E